Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Paternity

Pa·ter′ni·ty (·nĭ·ty̆), n. [L. paternitas: cf. F. paternité. See Paternal.] 1. The relation of a father to his child; fathership; fatherhood; family headship; as, the divine paternity.

The world, while it had scarcity of people, underwent no other dominion than paternity and eldership. Sir W. Raleigh.

2. Derivation or descent from a father; male parentage; as, the paternity of a child.

3. Origin; authorship.

The paternity of these novels was . . . disputed. Sir W. Scott.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.